The Road of a Cherry Blossom
by CherriesHaveFeelingsToo
Summary: When you're a princess who would KILL for to have the life of a ninja, you're bound to run into some problems. Saku-centric.
1. Prologue

**Title: 'The Road of a Cherry Blossom'**

**Summary: 'When you're a princess who would **_**kill**_** to have the life of a ninja, you're bound to run into some problems.'**

"_" – Talking

'__' – Thinking_

'**_' – Inner**

**(A/N: _) – Author's Note**

_**_**__** - **__**Chapter Title**_

**_..._**

_**Prologue: The Seed Surrounded by Carcasses**_

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Red, jagged lines ran across the heart monitor at a slow but steady pace.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Many people hated the noise. It reminded them of death.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Yet no one wanted the beeping to stop.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

… _Beeeeepppppppp._

Or hear those fated words of pity.

"I'm sorry. We did all that we could."

**_..._**

"What are we going to do with her?"

"Well, because of the murder, she has no family or relatives… We could give her to the orphanage."

A little girl the age of 5 or 6 sat outside a glass room, her sad face casted downwards, her short hair shielding her face.

_Orphanage._

Even though she didn't know what it was, it sounded like a terrible place.

The conversation went on. They didn't know she could hear every word.

"You could give her to ROOT."

"… That sounds like a solution. So, we're going to hand her over to Danzo."

The little girl's face crumpled up, eyes misting over.

'Danzo' sounded as bad as 'Orphanage'.

**_..._**

"I keep seeing you over and over again, kid. You've been in the organization for only two months and you manage to get yourself kicked out."

The girl was clutching onto the arm of another person. A dark haired boy.

"It's not her fault," the boy defended.

The girl tugged on the boy's sleeve in a warning manner. He looked down at her with wide, dark eyes that matched his hair and watched her shake her head somberly.

The jounin standing in front of them crossed his arms and observed the girl carefully.

"I don't know what it is about you. You haven't spoken a single word, yet you somehow manage to bring emotion back into ROOT. How?"

The little girl just looked up at him and sent a beaming smile in his direction as an answer before lowering her head again. The jounin stood there for a moment, shocked. No wonder their emotions started to show again. This girl had a smile that seemed to melt even the hardest of defenses. He even wanted to make her smile again—it had made him feel serene.

He let out a heavy sigh. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

Green eyes glanced up at him once, studying him fully before she started searching around in her pocket for something. All the while, she never let go of her friend's arm. Her arm stopped moving around; her face showed that she found what she was looking for. Then, she reluctantly pulled out the gleaming object from her bag.

The jounin's eyes widened to the sizes of saucers.

**_..._**

"HARUNO-SAMA! HARUNO-SAMA!"

The large double doors to the main hall burst open to reveal a sweating man in his twenties dragging a little girl at the late age of 5, and _she_ had her arm locked in a death grip around another boy's arm who was her age.

"SHE WEARS YOUR DAUGHTER'S ROYAL PENDANT!"

**_..._**

"We've gone through all the tests and it looks like you really _are_ my lost daughter. Congratulations, Sakura Haruno. You… are a princess."

The newly crowned princess had a finger on her bottom lip in thought, and then offered a tentative smile and nodded.

The Queen bent down before her and gave her returned daughter a meaningful yet awkward hug. "Welcome home."

Sakura's smile stretched wider across her face and she turned around… to find someone missing. Then, she spotted him being shooed out the door by the guards. Panic overtook her. No way was she going to lose her best friend.

Her short legs pushed her small frame across the hall as she pushed through the guards. Then she stopped, panting at her friend's side. She clutched the hem of his shirt and she looked to her mom… and the first words they've ever heard her utter came out.

"N-Not without… Sai."

The boy's eyes widened a fraction. "M-Me?"

He didn't have a name. No one bothered to name him. Until now.

The Queen's face softened at the sight and nodded. How could she refuse?

"But he's going to have to keep his ROOT position."

Sakura's face lit up. "Sai stays!"

**_..._**

She was back. Blank green eyes stared up at the ceiling. The white wallpaper hurt her eyes. Alcohol and blood. That's all she could smell. Along with the smoke that lingered on her clothes.

"The King and Queen are dead from the fire. Should we give the throne to Sakura?"

"Are you _kidding_ me? A ruler as young as she is can only lead to disaster! We have to appoint another queen. One who will rule with an iron fist. We _can't_ have a nine year old queen!"

**_..._**

"I'm your mother now, so treat me with respect."

Sakura studied her stepmother and gave a slight bow. "Your Majesty."

This was the first time she laid eyes on her new mother. The first word that came to her was 'pompous'.

Her name was Madame Shijima, sister to Madame Shijimi who had a cat named Tora. Though they were sisters, the two women looked nothing alike. Madame Shijima was slender with a beautiful body while Madame Shijimi had the figure of a watermelon. Madame Shijima had stunning blue eyes and blonde locks that seemed almost impossibly god-like while Madame Shijimi had an olden style brown hairdo and too much purple eye shadow.

It was no wonder the new queen got the spot instead of her sister.

"Kneel to your queen," Shijima ordered.

Sakura stood there unmoving. She never took those types of orders.

Shijima took a menacing step forward. The girl remained impassive.

Without warning, a fan lashed out and struck Sakura's cheek and she fell to the floor with a surprised cry.

The queen calmly opened her fan continued to fan herself while her dark blue eyes glared at the girl.

"You did not show proper respect to your mother. As punishment, you will be locked in your chambers without dinner. This will continue until you learn to behave respectfully. Dismissed."

Sakura stood up without a word, eyes steeled.

'_The moment I kneel willingly to you will be the day that heaven falls out of the sky.'_

**...**

**That's the prologue for ya. :)**

**- CHFT**


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: 'The Road of a Cherry Blossom'**

**Summary: 'When you're a princess who would **_**kill**_** to have the life of a ninja, you're bound to run into some problems.'**

"_" – Talking

'__' – Thinking_

'**_' – Inner**

**(A/N: _) – Author's Note**

_**_**__** - **__**Chapter Title**_

**...**

_**Chapter One: The Announcement**_

"Wake up, Hag. You're going to be locked in your room again."

Sakura groaned sleepily and pulled the covers over her head. After a few seconds there was no noise, and she started falling back into her peaceful slumber… until something slimy started crawling up her nightgown.

Green eyes snapped open and then narrowed as she yanked out the inky snake from under her covers. She threw the blankets off her body and sat up to glare at her friend.

"Sai, do you have to wake me up every morning with _this_ sneaking under my blankets?" Sakura demanded while shoving the skillfully drawn snake into the artist's face.

Sai shrugged. "You wouldn't wake up."

Sakura got up and made her way to her closet while grumbling, "Well your snake is getting more and more perverted."

"Well, maybe if you actually got up when I tell you to," Sai dispelled the jutsu with a wave of his brush, "then maybe it wouldn't have anything to explore... unless you actually _like_ it crawling up your shirt."

Sakura's face flushed a light pink and she threw her sock at him – which hit his face. It didn't even look like he blinked when it hit him. He only stared down at the sock in silence. The girl was frozen in her throwing position, amazed that she actually hit her mark.

She recovered quickly and punched her fist in the air. "Yatta! I hit you! My skills are improving!"

"Anyone can be hit with an ambush," Sai explained. "Here, let me demonstrate."

Emerald eyes widened in fear and she slammed the bathroom door shut before he could try anything. Usually, his lessons had good intentions… but his innocence could make her feel extremely uncomfortable. After making sure that the door was locked, Sakura stripped out of her clothes and sank into the hot water that Sai already warmed for her.

She lowered herself until her mouth disappeared underneath the bath water. Her eyes closed as calmness washed over her and she allowed herself to relax.

That is, until a sponge landed on her head. Sakura froze. If that was who she _thought_ it was…

Her head slowly twisted to the side to see Sai standing there right beside her bath, still pressing the sponge to her head.

"See? I got you."

The words were stuck in Sakura's throat. Anger bubbled up from the bottoms of her toes to the tip of her head.

"Sai…" she hissed out slowly, trying to keep her temper in check. "Get _out_ of my bathroom."

The confused boy just stood there. "Why?"

"_I SAID GET OUT!_"

With those words, the painter went sailing out the bathroom door, which slammed shut.

Sai rubbed the sore spot on his cheek thoughtfully.

"Maybe I shouldn't have helped her develop that move."

**...**

Sakura gave her customer a speculating stare.

"Two boxes of sake for 5 hours of training."

The blonde in front of her narrowed her honey colored eyes in thought. "How many are in each box?"

"A dozen."

The customer threw her hands up into the air in exasperation.

"Are you _kidding_ me? Do you _know_ how much sake I need?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, whispering, "It's from Tea Country, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade jumped up from her spot, knocking her chair over with the force. Her face shone with excitement.

"_Tea Country?_ They say that the sake they make there is heavenly!"

Sakura nodded, casually examining her fingernails. "Yup. Even though it's called 'Tea Country', they're experts at making sake. I hear that people come from all over the world just to get a sip of the stuff."

The woman grabbed Sakura's hand and started shaking it vigorously. "Deal!"

**...**

Sakura panted heavily, evaluating her opponent who seemed as worn down as she was. Without warning, Tsunade flicked out a dozen kunai which Sakura quickly deflected.

The blonde used this distraction to her advantage and lunged forward with her chakra enhanced punch. Sakura caught the fist quickly, and pushed it back with a burst of chakra. Not wasting any time, the pink haired kunoichi snapped out her leg and rammed her mentor's jaw with her knee.

Tsunade went flying backwards, blood spraying out of her mouth. She lay still for a few moments.

Sakura, still not done with the fight, took her blade and slammed it down right beside the neck. She smiled.

"I win, shishou."

Tsunade sat up from her position on the ground, clutching her jaw.

Her hand glowed green as she healed whatever damage there was and fell back on the ground. "Get me my sake, Sakura."

"Hai!"

**...**

"I lost to my apprentice…" Tsunade took another swig of her sake and hiccupped. "I'm getting old…"

Tsunade was sitting in the shade of one of the garden's trees, drinking to her heart's content while Sakura was practicing her sword skills nearby.

Sakura summoned a large boulder only to have it crumble to pieces with a single punch. Her excitement shone on her face.

"All those years of training… they've _finally_ paid off!" she squealed and danced around the remains of the stone.

"Why do you even want to train when your mom forbids you to even _touch_ a katana?" Tsunade asked in her drunken stupor. "Do you _purposely _go against your mother's rules to piss her off?"

Sakura gave her mentor a crooked smile. "Well, pissing her off was a bonus. I just… I don't exactly _love_ my life. Everyone expects something of me. I'm supposed to be what they want me to be. They don't care what _I_ want to be… and I want to be a ninja."

The girl sliced through an imaginary throat and stabbed the sword into the ground, victorious. She pulled the black leather gloves off and raked her hand through her oily hair.

"It's something about fighting that makes me happy… not that my 'mother' would care."

Another voice startled her, making her jump.

"Sakura? Sakura? Where are you, Forehead-girl?"

The pink haired girl relaxed. It was only Ino, after all.

"I'm in the courtyard, Ino-pig!"

There was a flash of yellow and all of a sudden Sakura found herself being tackled by her best friend and seamstress. "Ino! What the hell are you doing?"

Ino's eyes had an excited flash in them. "They're coming!"

"What? Who's coming?"

"Lord Fugaku and his family. They're coming to stay for a few nights!"

The hyper blue eyed seamstress hopped off of Sakura's torso and squealed, "Oh this is going to be so _exciting!_ The two _hottest_ men are coming to visit _our_ castle! Hell, half their _kingdom_ is visiting!"

Sakura panicked. This _had_ to be one of her mother's attempts to marry her off and inherit that other kingdom's money.

"Are they rich?"

This only got her friend even _more_ excited. "_Rich?_ THEIR KINGDOM IS THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF OURS!"

Rosy pink lips sighed. "Kami, Shijima just will not give up."

Sakura abruptly stood up and started storming towards the castle, not caring that she was still in men's clothes.

**...**

Sakura slammed the door shut behind her and crossed her arms. "Shijima! _What_ are you trying to do?"

It was more of a demand than a question.

The Queen just sat there elegantly on her throne, two slaves at her side with large feathery fans.

"What are you talking about, sweetheart?" she asked innocently.

Sakura snorted. "Don't give me that. You know as well as I do that you've invited Fugaku over. What _I_ want to know is _why_."

The Queen batted her gooey eyes at her stepdaughter and answered, "Why, it's to make sure you're married to a suitable husband, one worth your status!"

Emerald eyes flashed with anger.

"These people are going to be just as conceited as all the other princes and kings you've sent over which I so graciously declined! Why should _these people_ be any different?"

"Why, sweet daughter, isn't it obvious?" the Queen laughed as if Sakura was the dumbest creature on Earth. "They're… _richer._"

Just then, the messenger came with news. "Lord Fugaku has arrived, Milady."

"They're here!" the Queen gasped. "Quick! Sakura! Go change and get in your dress!"

Sakura scowled. "Fine."

**...**

After choosing the plainest dress she could find, Sakura threw it on without any thought of the corsets right beside her closet. She tied her hair up into a ponytail with her chakra to help and she took a look at herself in the mirror.

She looked normal—nothing special about her outfit.

Perfect.

She took her time getting back to the main room. The voices drifted down the hall minutes before she even got to the room.

"My daughter is _absolutely_ darling!" Shijima gushed. "I trained her to be like that, you know."

Then came a deeper, more serious voice. Most likely Fugaku's. "I see. We look forward to meeting her."

After that, they had a boring conversation about the neighboring kingdoms and their families.

'_Old people gossip,'_ Sakura thought, rolling her eyes.

She finally made it to the door of the main hall, which were wide open, and purposely waited at the corner of the entryway, hoping to kill time. From her point of view, she could see four heads—three male and one female. One of the two males had long spiky black hair and the other just had long hair in general tied back in a ponytail. Sakura scowled. _Two_ princes. Just her luck.

"Ah! Sakura! How nice of you… to… join us…" Shijima's voice faltered as she saw what her stepdaughter was wearing and frowned in distaste. "Didn't I tell you to put on your royal gown?"

Four heads turned her way.

Sakura walked over to her mother, not bothering to look elegant as she did so. "No. You just told me to get in my dress."

She turned to face the four Uchihas. Sasuke Uchiha. Youngest son. Itachi Uchiha. Eldest son. Fugaku Uchiha. Father and King. Mikoto Uchiha. Mother and Queen.

Sakura's roved over the Uchihas curiously. It was true to the two sons were handsome, but they seemed… too reserved. Fugaku had a serious look on his face to match his voice and frown lines were apparent. The girl faintly wondered if he ever smiled. Mikoto's face was the only calm and happy one there. She had a motherly loving look about her and she was the type of person who nearly everyone loved.

'_I'll try to be pleasant for her…'_

"Ohayo," the princess greeted with a nod and a half smile.

The Uchihas gave her a small bow back. There was a prodding on her spine that made Sakura yelp in surprise. She turned to see that it was her mother poking her back.

"Come on, Sakura… meet their sons…" she laughed through her teeth. "Go on up… don't be shy!"

The pink haired girl turned back around and warily approached the two princes. Sasuke was glaring at her. Itachi was giving her a blank stare. Sakura laughed nervously.

She could hear everyone else being ushered out by her mother, who wanted to give them a tour of the castle.

'_Great. Leaving me alone with them, hm?'_

"Hn," was Sasuke's response.

Itachi was a bit more social. "Itachi."

"Well… I hope you enjoy your stay at our home. See you around."

Since the Queen wasn't there, Sakura didn't have to say anything else and she was gone before anyone could say anything else.

**...**

The pink haired girl was sitting in her garden reading a thick book when something caught her eye. Looking up, she saw one of the Uchihas wandering around. Sakura sighed.

'_They're lost.'_

"Go straight, bank a left, go up the nearest flight of stairs and take another left. Your room is the first to your right."

The person jumped and turned to see who spoke. They spotted Sakura, who waved, and quickly walked over. The princess noted with surprise that it was Mikoto who got lost. Didn't she go on the castle tour with Shijima?

"Sorry for bothering you, Haruno-san, but I'm lost…"

Sakura scrunched her face up at the title. "Just Sakura is fine. And… where's mom?"

Mikoto smiled sheepishly.

"I lost sight of her an hour ago."

"… I see."

The girl bookmarked her page and closed the book. She stood up, holding out a hand for the woman to take. Mikoto stared at the hand in surprise. An act of friendship when they only met this morning? Dark eyes searched emerald eyes before two hands were linked. Sakura led the visitor out of the garden and past a large, active place with people in baker's hats running around.

"The kitchen," Sakura explained. "We've got new apprentices… though they're burning everything whether it's food or not."

Mikoto stifled a laugh.

They passed a room with many girls observing various colored yarns and sketching different dress designs on napkins.

"Sewing room. Probably the room with the most gossip."

Sakura pulled Mikoto past many other rooms with her own description for each one, sometimes shocking Mikoto with her honesty.

Soon, they arrived at a double door engraved with elegant patterns that reminded Sakura of twisting vines.

"And last but not least, your room."

The pink haired girl pushed open the door to see a kunai flying straight for her face. She caught it in midair nearly out of instinct. Her hands dropped the object in front of her feet.

After a pause she spoke.

"You should be careful where you throw things."

**...**

**Review!**

**- CHFT**


	3. Chapter 2

**Title: 'The Road of a Cherry Blossom'**

**Summary: 'When you're a princess who would **_**kill**_** to have the life of a ninja, you're bound to run into some problems.'**

"_" – Talking

'__' – Thinking_

'**_' – Inner**

**(A/N: _) – Author's Note**

…

_**Chapter 2: Recruited**_

**...**

Two pairs of eyes stared at her from inside the room. Another pair from behind.

Sakura stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, wondering what she was supposed to do next. Then she remembered why she was there in the first place.

"Ah! Mikoto-ue!" She pulled Mikoto into the room so that she could get a good look around. "Hope you enjoy your stay! I would love to stay and chat but I can't, so… ja ne!"

And with that hurried goodbye, Sakura closed the door and went on her way, purposely pretending that she didn't hear the yell of "W-Wait!"

Once they were out of earshot, the curses and muttering began.

Colorful words flew out of Sakura's mouth. "How could I have been so _stupid?_ I should've just fallen back to dodge it while still keeping Mitoko-sama out of harm's way!"

More curses under her breath followed.

'**Yep. You're stupid alright.'**

"No one asked you!" Sakura yelled aloud.

'**Stop it! You're going to sound like a lunatic to anyone who passes by!"**

The girl sat down on the left side of the hall and glared at the wall, hoping that it would give her a solution to her problem.

'_What am I going to say when we gather for dinner?'_

'**Just don't **_**go**_** to dinner!'**

'_Shijima is just going to send the servants and drag me to dinner…'_

'**Yeah… but we should save this for later. Aren't you… forgetting something?'**

'_What… what do you mean?'_

'**Oh you know… something you have to **_**sign up for.**_**'**

'…_?'_

'**Forget subtle hints… **_**GET OUR ASSES OVER TO THE HOKAGE TOWER AND REGISTER FOR THE CHUNIN EXAMS**_**!'**

"$%^&!"

…

"Sakura's a mysterious girl. I don't know where she gets it but… you know… I'm available too…"

Itachi soaked in the information and nodded, ignoring the last comment. He took a good look at the person in front of him to make sure she wasn't lying.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka by the way…" the lady giggled.

As polite as always, Itachi replied with, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

Of course, he could tell that she was the talkative type, so he went on his way before she could suck him into a conversation. He had more important matters to dwell on. Like… the princess.

Onyx eyes narrowed as he replayed the event in his head for the tenth time that hour. She caught the kunai with such speed, such skill that he knew it wasn't just beginners' luck. Now the question remains; who is she _really_?

Just as he was about to turn a corner, someone ran straight into him with such force that he fell over.

…

For a few seconds, the world was spinning. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. No help. Clutching her head, she felt against the wall and pulled herself up.

'_What… what happened?'_

She expected the voice inside her head to answer, but nothing happened. Her inner was most likely as dazed as she was. Her sight started clearing up again and she saw another figure on the floor who… didn't seem as dizzy as she was, but just as confused.

"Oh! Are you alright?" Sakura bent down to offer this person a hand.

The man stared at the hand in front of him and reluctantly took it. Right in the middle of helping him up, understanding dawned on the girl. In her shock, she accidentally let go of the person's hand and he went back down.

"Ah! Gomen!"

Sakura flushed in embarrassment and then got a clear view of his face. The blush on her face washed away and was replaced by surprise.

"Oi! You're Itachi!"

Itachi grunted from his spot on the floor and pushed himself up. "You should watch where you run."

Sakura scratched the back of her head sheepishly and replied, "Well you should know better than to get in the way of people who aren't watching where they run."

The elder Uchiha prince glared at her. "I was turning a corner."

"You know what they say; 'Look both ways before you cross the castle halls!'"

"That's not—"

But he found himself talking to empty air. He turned around to see the princess pushing past others and yelling, "G-Gomen!" every few seconds.

"What's her rush…?"

…

"Name?"

"Um… Satoru."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Alright… Gender?"

"Male."

Tsunade gave her pupil an exasperated look but then shook her head and wrote it down. "Can you pull it off?"

Her student responded by transforming into a boy with shaggy blonde hair and a handsome grin. "Definitely."

A kunai was chucked in Sakura direction and hit her mid-thigh. The jutsu didn't wear off.

Sakura made a little 'v' with her fingers. "See? Real blood too!"

She pulled the weapon out with one hand while healing the wound with the other. Her mentor looked on approvingly.

"I taught you well. Now… clan."

Sakura gave the kunai back with a thoughtful look on her face. "I'm not sure… I didn't think this part out."

Tsunade sighed.

"You're going to need a family name if you want to participate."

"Hm… how about… Nigaki?"

Tsunade shrugged and wrote it down. "Alright, the Chunin Exams are starting two days from now. You're going to have to train ten times harder than usual _and_ in your transformed state!"

"I know, I know… we've been through this for the genin exam last time. Wish me luck!"

She gave her mentor a salute and poofed out of the room.

…

The door to Sakura's room opened to show one of the Queen's maids. Sakura looked up from her medical book in surprise and casually closed the book while hiding the cover with her arms. She knew better than to trust one of her mother's maids with a secret.

"Yes?"

"Dinner time."

"I'll be right down, thanks."

Sakura gave the maid a smile to dismiss her with, but the moment the door closed her face showed absolute panic.

_Dinner time._

A picture of the Uchiha family glaring at her, giving her calculating stares while eating made itself present in her mind. She sank down nervously as if they were actually there.

'_Ohhh what am I going to do?'_

'**OH! I have this trick that I use all the time and it may come in handy with the situation we have here; Pretend nothing happened, and if the subject comes up, deny everything!'**

Sakura looked up, eyebrows raised.

'_That might actually work!'_

Her inner put a determined fist up, eyes shining. **'We might **_**survive**_** with this plan!'**

The princess stood up, the butterflies in her stomach disappearing. She went out the hall, her destination: The dining room.

'_Thank you! If I could, I'd give you a present.'_

'**Just treat us with something special… may I suggest a hot spring for instance?'**

Sakura laughed at her inner's loose behavior. _'Sure.'_

Smells of delicious food wafted into her scent and she realized that she had already walked all the way to the dining room. She was even more surprised that she was already inside the room—everyone's eyes were one her. Sakura ducked her head and quickly scurried to her seat.

Her ears felt hot. She probably walked in the room while looking into space—something she tended to do while talking to her inner.

"Haruno Sakura, right?"

His voice startled the poor girl so much that she let out a yell and fell out of her seat. She quickly righted herself and brushed her gown off and sat back down in her seat with a slightly red face.

"H-Hai, that's my name."

She turned her head to make eye contact with the one she was talking to and saw Itachi's face.

'_W-Wait, when'd he get there?'_

She looked the opposite direction and almost gasped when she saw Sasuke.

'_When'd __**he**__ sit there?'_

Sasuke saw her gawking at him in shock—and slight fear—and he grunted, "What?"

"W-Were you there when I sat down?"

"Yes."

"But I don't remember…"

Itachi's voice made her swing her head around, nearly whacking his face with her hair.

"You're rather oblivious to your surroundings, Sakura-san."

A bit offended, she replied with a sarcastic, "Wow, thanks."

"Saku-chan… honey… you _do_ know that it wasn't a compliment, right?"

Emerald eyes gave baby blue eyes an unbelieving look. Obviously, Shijima didn't hear the sarcasm that she worked so hard to layer the comment with.

"Yes… and mom… please don't call me 'Saku-chan'. It's… kind of girly and childish."

The Queen let out a tinkling laugh. "You're a girl and you're a child! It fits perfectly!"

Under the table, the fork in Sakura's hand snapped cleanly in half. She opened her mouth to retort when a maid shyly whispered something in Shijima's ear, who in turn exclaimed, "Why wait? Bring the letters in!"

The maid nodded and obediently went out the room to finish the errand.

Sakura's anger vanished and was replaced by suspicion. "What letters?"

As if on cue, a servant stumbled in with a large brown bag about the size of a door. He stood in one place behind the Queen, wondering where to drop it and then just settled for the spot beside Sakura.

She glanced at the Queen once before untying the sack and taking out one of the hundred letters. Ripping it open impatiently, Sakura took out the letter and began to read, not bothering to hide the letter from the four prying eyes sitting beside her. Her eyes widened in shock as she read the contents.

"T-This is a…"

"Marriage proposal!" Shijima finished for her. "Oh, isn't it _wonderful_, Sakura? Since you turned sixteen last month, you're a candidate for marriage! We've had letters streaming in by the _dozen_ once word got out and we waited for the right time to show them to you!"

Sakura ripped open the next one and her eyes bulged out. She dropped the letter as if it was a cockroach and stared at it in terror.

"A-A _female_ asked for my hand in marriage!" she screeched, pointing a finger at the offending letter.

Her mother only waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I _know_ you're straight and you're not used to lesbians, but you need to be open to new opportunities! Plus, this also means that you're popular among females as well!"

"B-But… my hair is pink! I have a h-huge forehead! I'm the exact opposite of the 'ideal wife'!" Sakura protested, trying to make sense of all this madness.

"That may be so, but you have an IQ of over 140 and you excel in athletics. Everyone wants a strategic queen… and a strong one at that in case she gets in a tussle herself!"

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Fugaku exchange looks with Mikoto. Was that what this was all about? Is that the reason why Shijima chose _now_ of all times to reveal the proposals?

She clenched her jaw and forced herself to calm down. Then, she smiled at Ayame, their cook, and complimented the food, asking in depth about the seasoning and how she knew how long to cook it. The rest of the dinner went that way. If anyone asked Sakura a question, she would reply with a shrug.

Once dinner was over, Sakura stood up, gave everyone a curt bow, and exited the dining room.

…

'… **Fail.'**

'_Shut up.'_

Sakura had her face buried in her pillow. All the anxiety that she was supposed to feel during dinner but didn't came rushing in.

'_What a late reaction…but then again, I guess it's better to feel it now than when there are people around.'_

Her inner hummed in agreement. Sighing, Sakura sat herself up and looked out her window. One reason she loved her room was because it had a great view of the gardens.

A finger flew up to her chin as she exclaimed, "That's the perfect spot for meditation!"

She hopped off the bed happily at the prospect of meditation. The feeling of her chakra moving through her veins could be felt during meditating, and though it should probably make her queasy, it actually makes her calmer.

Her hand reached out to grab the doorknob when all of a sudden someone opened the door from the outside, hitting Sakura on the forehead.

On instinct, she recoiled from the door, holding a hand to her abused forehead. "Itai...!"

She leaned to her left to see who rammed her and was staring straight at a man's chest. Tilting her head up she looked into dark coal colored eyes.

"S-Sasuke?"

He took out something from behind him. A kunai. At first, Sakura thought he was going to attack, but he only held it in front of him. On closer inspection, she realized something.

That was the very same kunai that she caught earlier that afternoon.

He said one word.

"Explain."

…

**Hehehe… I'm evil.**

**Replies to the reviewers:**

**BrazillianCherryBlossom – Thanks! Haha… I ended on a cliffy again.**

**TeenageCrisis – Yep! There will be. :) What's a good story without drama~?**

**Winrycherry101 – Thanks~ :)**


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